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Post by berkley on Apr 15, 2017 21:51:27 GMT -5
Presence: Haven't listened to this one enough to have a strong opinion of it. Favourite track: Achilles Last Stand. This put it into my mind to have a listen to the album and I've played it repeatedly over the last few days: it's much more solid than I remembered and I agree with rom that it is under-rated. Wiki says it wasn't as popular with fans because it lacked the variety or wide range of sounds found on their classic records, but I think another reason might be that they didn't really progress on this one: it almost sounds like it could have been the 5th and 6th sides of Physical Graffiti if that had been a triple instead of a double album; so perhaps it lacks something of the strong individual personality of their other records. Achilles Last Stand is a bit of an exception, though, and perhaps that's why that's the track that immediately stands out. But Presence has definitely moved way up in my estimation after listening to it a few times over these last few days, much as Yes's Tales from Topographic Oceans rose after some repeated listenings last year. |
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Post by rom on Apr 17, 2017 10:49:29 GMT -5
Presence (1976) is unquestionably Led Zep's most underrated album. I find if far superior to In through the Out Door (1979), which had some hit singles that got radio play, but was too weak for me; it didn't have the hard & edgy rock tone/vibe that their previous albums did, and seemed to be trying to capitalize on the "soft" rock that was popular in the late '70's.
Conversely, I don't think Presence had any singles, but all of the songs on the album truly rock - i.e. Achilles Last Stand, For Your Life, Nobody's Fault but mine, Candy Store Rock, Hots on for Nowhere, etc. Incredible songs, with some fantastic drum work.
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Post by berkley on Apr 19, 2017 19:09:11 GMT -5
No, I've never liked In Through the Out Door much - or what I've heard of it, which is just whatever was played on the radio back when it was out. Couldn't stand All of my Love, for example. Hot Dog was a nice, fun tune, but would have been one of the lesser tracks on any other Zeppelin album. In retrospect, I think they should have carried on after Bonham's death, perhaps after a suitable interval. Nothing any of theme did later as solo artists or with other bands came anywhere near their work with Led Zeppelin, going by what I've heard.
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Post by Phil Maurice on Apr 19, 2017 19:43:12 GMT -5
No, I've never liked In Through the Out Door much - or what I've heard of it, which is just whatever was played on the radio back when it was out. Couldn't stand All of my Love, for example. Hot Dog was a nice, fun tune, but would have been one of the lesser tracks on any other Zeppelin album. In retrospect, I think they should have carried on after Bonham's death, perhaps after a suitable interval. Nothing any of theme did later as solo artists or with other bands came anywhere near their work with Led Zeppelin, going by what I've heard. Most of the heavy lifting on In Through the Out Door was done by Plant and Jones, as both Page and Bonham were deep into drug and alcohol addiction by this point. Recording was done at Polar Studios in Stockholm during the frigid winter of 1978. It's because of these things perhaps that the album is a bit of a departure for the band, with heavy use of synthesizer by Jones and tracks like Hot Dog showing Plant's rockabilly influence. I find it a bit of a transitional work, as the band struggled to remain relevant in the era of Punk and New Wave. Personally, I'm glad they ultimately decided not to continue without Bonham. This was an outfit that had never experienced a line-up change or even any significant disagreements during the course of their association. They were an incredibly tight-knit unit, and no single part was replaceable in any sense, IMHO. |
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Post by rom on Apr 21, 2017 16:59:09 GMT -5
I completely agree with your assessment of In through the Out Door. I'm not going to say the album is terrible, just that it didn't sound much like the Led Zep we had been hearing up to that point; it's definitely not a hard rock/blues-oriented album like their previous ones. I felt it sounded a lot like a lot of other softer rock that was getting more popular by the late '70's. Calling it a transitional album is very apt.
Re: Coda, I just got the 3-CD deluxe set of this album. Though I think the album itself (Disk 1) is not extremely impressive, the real gems are on the other two bonus CD's. These 2 CD's are definitely the best bonus CD's of all these new 2014-2015 releases.
Especially digging this song:
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